Exploring and Analyzing Data – Desktop Specialist Study Guide
This is the largest domain (35% of the exam) and covers building and analyzing views: chart types, the discrete/continuous distinction, filters, calculations, and analytics overlays. The single most conceptually important idea is discrete (blue) vs continuous (green) and how it differs from dimension vs measure. Master that plus the calculation/grouping features and this domain scores well.
Building Views and the Marks Card
Views are built by placing fields on Rows, Columns, and the Marks card (Color, Size, Label, Detail, Tooltip, and Shape/Angle for some marks). Each mark is a visual element (bar, point, line) at the view's level of detail.
Chart choices:
| Goal | Chart |
|---|---|
| Trend over time | Line (continuous date) |
| Compare categories | Bar |
| Correlation of two measures | Scatter plot |
| Part of a whole | Pie / treemap |
| Precise values | Crosstab (text table) |
Discrete vs Continuous (the key concept)
- Discrete (blue) — produces distinct headers/categories.
- Continuous (green) — produces a continuous axis (a range).
This is independent of dimension vs measure: a date dimension can be used as discrete (distinct month headers) or continuous (a time axis for a trend line). Recognizing this separation is one of the most-tested points on the exam.
Unlock with a paid plan
5 more sections (about 287 words) continue below. Every paid plan unlocks all TDS-C01 study guides, the full question bank and mock exams, from $4.97/month.